'Your whole family was killed': Nine-year-old survivor of Libya plane crash is told

The sole survivor of a plane crash in Libya that killed 103 passengers and crew has been told that his mother, father and brother were killed in the disaster.

Relatives broke the news to Ruben van Assouw, nine, who has been undergoing treatment at a Tripoli hospital.

Authorities said the Dutch boy would be able to return home tomorrow.

Rescuers found Ruben still strapped in his seat and breathing in an area of desert sand strewn with the plane's debris.

Sole survivor: Ruben van Assouw is treated in a Tripoli hospital. He has been told by his aunt and uncle that his parents and brother died in the Airbus A330-200 crash

His father, mother and 11-year-old brother are believed to have been among the 103 people on board who were killed on Wednesday when the Airbus A330-200 ploughed into a sandy field just short of the runway in Tripoli, Libya.

The family had
gone to South Africa during the boys' spring school vacation to
celebrate the couple's 12-and-a-half-year wedding anniversary, a Dutch
tradition.

They were headed home from a dream safari in South Africa when their plane crashed in Libya.

The Airbus A330-200 ploughed into a sandy field just short of the runway in Tripoli, Libya

Since then, Ruben has been in hospital, with an aunt and uncle who rushed in from Amsterdam at his bedside.

Today, his aunt and uncle released a statement saying they had told the boy of the deaths of his parents, Trudy and Patrick van Assouw, and his brother, Enzo.

'Considering the circumstances, Ruben is doing well. He sleeps a lot. Now and then he is awake and... is clear,' the couple said.

'This morning, we told Ruben exactly what has happened. He knows both his parents and brother are deceased. Now with the whole family we will take care of Ruben's future,' they said.

The plane crash killed 103 passengers and crew

'We have two kinds of sorrow to deal with, because Ruben is in a very bad situation but we have also lost family members,' they said, adding for respect for their privacy.

'The next period will be a rough period for us.'

Dutch Foreign Ministry official, Ed Kronenburg said Ruben would be taken home to the Netherlands tomorrow on a Libyan medical evacuation flight.

The child was recovering well after 4.5 hours of surgery to repair multiple fractures to his legs.